Ryva Takes On Enterprise (Again)

This episode is supposed to be a follow-up to "The Andorian Incident". Archer is informed by Admiral Forrest that the sanctuary at P'Jem was destroyed by Andorian commandos, and the Vulcan High Council is blaming Enterprise, and T'Pol in particular, because if they hadn't gone to P'Jem, the Andorians wouldn't have found their little secret listening post. So they're ordering T'Pol back to Vulcan.

She doesn't seem to care, and Archer is upset by this. So he takes her along to Korriban -- oh, whoops, that's Star Wars -- Coridan, a planet under the governmental jurisdiction of the Vulcans. Unfortunately, this government isn't very popular, at least among a group of renegades, who shoot down Archer and T'Pol's shuttle and take them hostage. After enduring a truly embarrassing scene involving Archer and T'Pol trying to wriggle out of their bonds and Archer ending up with a face-full of Vulcan boobage, we are introduced to Sopek, the captain of the Vulcan vessel appointed with the task of taking T'Pol back to the homeworld.

The Vulcans, naturally, are not pleased that their scapegoat has been kidnapped, so they take over the rescue mission. But of course, Trip knows better than to trust those pointy-eared bastards, so he and Malcolm take a shuttle down to the planet anyway. Immediately, they are kidnapped, but hey, what the? It's Shran the Andorian! Who, by a baffling coincidence, has shown up to rescue Archer and repay his debt at the exact same time that the Andorians were reintroduced to the plot by the Vulcans. Crazy, right?

Anyway, they all come to the rescue of Archer and T'Pol, the Vulcans show up, and there's a shoot-out in which T'Pol takes a bullet (well, a phaser blast) for Sopek. Archer convinces Sopek to give T'Pol another chance, and she gets to stay on Enterprise. Guess she'll need some more nasal suppressants from Phlox.

Sigh... Who writes this stuff? With all the political intrigue, you'd think this would have been more compelling. But there were so many loose ends. Enterprise has been in contact with Vulcans, and Admiral Forrest, before this episode, so why are they just now hearing about the destruction of P'Jem? Why did the Vulcans wait months to tell them? To me, it just seems like the writers are just making all this up as they go. There's absolutely no forethought displayed here, as far as I can see.

Also, it's annoying how this "corrupt" government on Coridan, which is controlled by the evil Vulcans, is never really explained, or even seen. And the Andorians just happened to be there... how? Were they helping the rebels? Or were they just there to save Archer? I don't know. Shran's presence on Coridan just felt like a huge plot contrivance.

Things I liked about this episode: Uhhh... Jeffrey Combs is cool?

Worst line ever belongs to Hoshi: "He isn't available right now. Can I take a message?" She has officially become Enterprise's receptionist.

Yeah Shran's "not being able to sleep at night" was just silly at best. And amazing how getting shot never seriously seems to injure you so long as you're part of the main cast. Gotta love those plot driven weapons. This isn't even the worst time Shran shows up quite obviously as a plot convenience, but you forgive him it because he does it with style.

Of course in a real world, Archer probably would've been relieved after P'Jem. That sort of thing sorta happens when you go out of your way to make your biggest ally mad.

Yeah... I kind of feel like Enterprise is Star Trek for Dummies. Compared to the other series, this one seems decidedly low-brow; like it's catering to a dumber-than-average audience whose interest is only held by fisticuffs and boobs. I don't need every episode of Trek to be deep, philosophical stuff, but I don't appreciate shows that treat their viewers like idiots, or that assume they won't catch things like lazy writing or blatant attempts at titillation.

Granted, most of television seems to be headed this way. But somehow, I expect better from Trek. They should know that their viewers are smarter than that.

Yeah... I kind of feel like Enterprise is Star Trek for Dummies. Compared to the other series, this one seems decidedly low-brow; like it's catering to a dumber-than-average audience whose interest is only held by fisticuffs and boobs.

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This is sort of obvious when they originally billed the series as Enterprise, without the Star Trek: prefix. Apparently it was an attempt to draw in viewers who wouldn't watch something with "Star Trek" in the title, but it also served as just another slap in the face for loyal Trek fans. All such a plan could have achieved was to trick unsuspecting new viewers into watching it, who would then be mad at being suckered: "Enterprise, that sounds interesting-- WTF!? This is just Star Trek! Those lying bastards!"

Of course in a real world, Archer probably would've been relieved after P'Jem. That sort of thing sorta happens when you go out of your way to make your biggest ally mad.

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I don't think so. The pre-enlightenment Vulcans are imperial dicks and Archer was totally right to let the Andorians destroy the surveillance facility in P'Jem.
About the episode, it its not as good as the previous or the following Andorian-Vulcan story but I take a weak forming of the UFP story over an average ENT episode any day.

Yeah... I kind of feel like Enterprise is Star Trek for Dummies. Compared to the other series, this one seems decidedly low-brow; like it's catering to a dumber-than-average audience whose interest is only held by fisticuffs and boobs. I don't need every episode of Trek to be deep, philosophical stuff, but I don't appreciate shows that treat their viewers like idiots, or that assume they won't catch things like lazy writing or blatant attempts at titillation.

Granted, most of television seems to be headed this way. But somehow, I expect better from Trek. They should know that their viewers are smarter than that.

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When the show was about deep philosophical stuff like in Dear Doctor you seemingly did not appreciate it.
About boobs, have you ever seen TOS? T'Pol's or Seven's catsuits are nothing compared to Theiss wear and Roddenberryian sexploitation.

When the show was about deep philosophical stuff like in Dear Doctor you seemingly did not appreciate it.

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Ehh... Like I said, I didn't think that was a badly written episode. I just didn't agree with the morals of it. (Or lack thereof.)

Everyone tells me ENT gets a lot better after Season Two. I continue to live in hope.

Speaking of hope...

Shuttlepod One:

An episode light in plot, but heavy in character development. Trip and Malcolm are stranded in a shuttlepod with only a few days' worth of oxygen, after mistakenly assuming that Enterprise has been destroyed. Male bonding ensues.

I... liked this episode. I must say I'm surprised, especially since it was written by Berman and Braga (in my opinion, the worst Trek writers of all time). But once in a while, they manage to pull one off. In this case, though, I think most of the credit has to go to Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating. I loved them both in this episode. Their characters seemed like real people, having real conversations. And the subject of contention between them -- namely blind optimism vs. cynical realism -- was consistent with both their characters. Trip chooses to hope for the best, no matter the circumstances, while Malcolm believes in accepting the inevitable, and preparing for it. I can see the value of both sides.

This episode had its weak points. For one thing, I find it hard to believe that Trip, the chief engineer, would look at one piece of Enterprise's hull scattered among debris of an alien ship, and come to the conclusion that Enterprise had been destroyed. You'd think he would know better. Then again, he also thinks that hair and fingernails continue to grow after death. (Total BS. And not surprising that Berman and Braga don't know that. Their grasp of science is flimsy, at best.)

Despite these flaws, this was a solid episode. I'm surprised that I like Trip and Malcolm as much as I do. They're such completely different characters. But for once, I'm surprised in a good way.

Bottle shows often turn out to be quite good and I don't think that Tucker and Reed would have become friends if it weren't for this episode. They are not as good as Bashir and O'Brien but they have some nice and funny buddy moments.

Enterprise gets help charting a nebula from some very interesting Vulcans, and we learn that jazz music gets T'Pol all hot and bothered.

This was a good episode, for about the first half-hour. And then it became an allegory for rape. (By the way, how is it possible that mind melds are an abandoned practice in ENT, when they're in common use in the later series? This would have to imply that these renegade Vulcans had some impact on the Vulcan majority, and I just don't see that happening.) They couldn't just have an episode about Vulcans trying to balance logic and emotions successfully, could they? Instead, it ended up being about T'Pol's repressed sexuality. It's almost like Berman and Braga feel they're incapable of holding their audience's interest unless they incorporate sex into every episode. So that's what they do. Bah.

The thing is, they really don't have to. There were other aspects of this episode that were good. I liked that these Vulcans (except for Tolaris, or as I like to call him, Creepy McGee) were all seemingly successful at embracing emotion without abandoning logic. I liked Trip's friendship with Kov, the amiable, chubby Vulcan; especially their conversation about football. The line "They're not trying to kill the quarterback!" made me laugh.

Also, I think I'm finally getting some insight into T'Pol's character. She may be a pretty crappy Vulcan, with her haughtiness and disrespect and irritatingly un-Vulcan use of contractions, but at least it's not entirely because of bad writing. Evidently, she kind of knows she's a crappy Vulcan, which is why she has to work constantly at maintaining her self-discipline. Actually, the moments where T'Pol started to lose control of her emotions demonstrated, in my opinion, Jolene Blalock's best acting in this series so far. She proved she can do more than be sarcastic and pouty.

Still, I prefer the dignified, enlightened Vulcans of the previous series. I think I need to go watch some TOS. I miss Spock.

Shuttlepod One was a fun episode and can show a light hearted side without them just being plain silly or incompetent. I just wish there was more follow up between Reed and Tucker on this one. Sure they're friends the rest of the series, but you don't see -too many- moments like this one later on. The episode isn't perfect and you can nitpick it easy enough, but it's enjoyable and makes up for that.

Fusion... well more Evil Vulcan Syndrome in the form of mind rape. T'Pol really would've been better written as a half human, her self control really is always close to the surface. Later episodes try to explain this away and fix this mind meld blunder as mentioned. Enterprise really just yanks the Vulcans back and forth around like a yo-yo.

I think it's sort of unreasonable to expect all Vulcans to behave exactly the same and all be perfect models of emotional suppression and self-control. T'Pol is very flawed, but that doesn't maker her less Vulcan any more than bipolar disorder would make you or me less human. Enterprise is far from my favorite series, but I love that they gave Vulcans some depth and diversity.

I think it's sort of unreasonable to expect all Vulcans to behave exactly the same and all be perfect models of emotional suppression and self-control. T'Pol is very flawed, but that doesn't maker her less Vulcan any more than bipolar disorder would make you or me less human. Enterprise is far from my favorite series, but I love that they gave Vulcans some depth and diversity.

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There's a difference between expecting them all to be the same and expecting them not to be contradictory to themselves. Ryva's right, they are very Romulanesque in Enterprise.

Archer then expresses concern that by taking a prisoner they'll incite the Nausicans to be aggressive... yeah if you're not careful they'll start attacking your cargo ships or something. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think that torturing the Nausican for information was the right thing to do, but these are YOUR people Archer. Take the prisoner, promise the Fortunate you'll take care of things, call up Forrest and have him file a diplomatic protest to their government. That's how you handle things.

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Oh yeah, and also, start upgrading the other Starfleet ships to warp 5 as well, so that they can go on cargo escort missions into deep space to prevent further attacks. Having only just one other (the Columbia) only four years after Enterprise is foolish; there should have been more, and all of the other ships should have been upgraded to warp 5 after the warp 5 engine had been finally tested and built.

Yeah... I kind of feel like Enterprise is Star Trek for Dummies. Compared to the other series, this one seems decidedly low-brow; like it's catering to a dumber-than-average audience whose interest is only held by fisticuffs and boobs. I don't need every episode of Trek to be deep, philosophical stuff, but I don't appreciate shows that treat their viewers like idiots, or that assume they won't catch things like lazy writing or blatant attempts at titillation.

Granted, most of television seems to be headed this way. But somehow, I expect better from Trek. They should know that their viewers are smarter than that.

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Unlike you, I have problems with bad episodes, NOT the whole show itself. That's the difference between myself and most of you (and many other Trekfans.)

The episode shows that Surak most likely merely wanted the Vulcans to suppress their "bad" emotions. He wanted peace and logic, not total emotional suppression.
But the episode also showed how dangerous it can be for people who have grown up in the orthodox Vulcan culture to "let go". It took Spock decades.

About the Vulcans in general, well, they behave more or less like Vulcans. Vulcans have always been a bit arrogant and racist. What's different though is Vulcan politics and as many posters have already said, we learn why the High Command is so unenlightened in the last season.

I am glad that they didn't just do the usual stuff with the Vulcans but actually tried to be different and tell a new stories about them.

Yeah... How many bad episodes is a show required to have for it to qualify as a bad show? I'm not sure I understand the reasoning there....

However, I will concede that I can't say unequivocally that ENT is a bad show, because I haven't seen all of it yet. I just haven't been too impressed by many of the episodes I've seen so far. But I've still got hopes for Season Three. I hear it's pretty great.